


Sidney in Wonderland

by Flyingintospace



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Boston Bruins, M/M, Mermaids, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Vampires, Vancouver Canucks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-21
Updated: 2014-12-13
Packaged: 2018-01-13 05:35:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1214632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flyingintospace/pseuds/Flyingintospace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sidney is pulled into a strange world, where he meets a cast of almost familiar characters and has to battle his way back to his own world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Lonely Night at the Rink.

Chapter One

The Lonely Night at the Rink

         Sidney Crosby fired a hard shot towards the empty net and missed by a mile. The puck clanged off the boards, the sound echoing loudly in the empty arena. Sidney's shoulders slumped in defeat. This was just how the whole night, hell his whole season had been going. The Penguins were mired into one of the worse slumps that Sidney could ever remember being in and no matter what they tried they just seemed to be digging themselves deeper. Tonight had been a complete disaster. Once again they had not even scored a goal and had allowed their opponents, the Capitals of all teams, to score seven against them. Sidney didn't think that he was ever going to forget the smug look on Ovechkin's face as that final buzzer had sounded.

          Sidney slapped at the last puck that had been lined up and missed it completely, his stick hitting the ice with a terrible force and shattering into a million shards.

          Sighing in frustration Sidney decided that it was finally time to call it a night. The sound of his skate blades cutting into the ice sounded eerie as he headed for the dressing rooms and was halfway there when his skate caught on something and sent Sidney tumbling face first to the ice. It was just a good thing that he was wearing a helmet because the last thing that he needed was another head injury.

          Sidney pushed himself up on to his knees and looked back to see what had just made his night even worse.

          He had expected it to be a shard of his broken stick but that was not what was there.

          Running across the ice was a long jagged crack.

          Sidney had never seen anything like it before and skated closer to investigate. The crack was about the width of Sidney s finger and looked impossibly deep, but Sidney supposed that that was just from the lighting in the building. He dropped down to one knee to have a closer look. Which was when he noticed that it wasn't the only crack running across the ice. They were coming from every corner of the rink all seemingly coming together in a spot in the middle of the ice that was ominously shadowy.

          Despite his better judgement Sidney slowly picked his way towards the shadowy spot careful not to land on his face once again.

          The arena was creepily quiet and made the sound of dripping water that Sidney could suddenly hear even creepier. He took another step forward and suddenly the ice in front of him exploded into a trillion shards.

          Sidney threw himself backwards trying to avoid the flying ice but wasn't entire successful as he felt the sharp shards cut into this skin. Following close on the heels of the explosion was the sound of rushing water and Sidney looked up to find a water spout gushing out of the hole ice and almost reaching the ceiling of the rink.

          Sidney tried to scramble to his feet when he realized that the remaining ice had began to tip towards the water spout. His hands scrambled to grab a hold of something as he began to tip towards the massive blue, green and silver tower of water that was oddly lit from below but there was nothing and his gloves did nothing to make it easier. The ice began to tip more and Sidney flipped over onto his stomach the blades of his skates digging into the ice as he tried to crawl away from the water spout. But it was too late and Sidney let out a scream as he tipped backwards into the swirling, raging water.

          The water spout instantly sucked back into itself leaving behind a quiet arena and a jagged hole in the ice.


	2. Mermaid Blood

        Sidney kept screaming as he found himself pulled down by the waterspout into the middle of the blue sky. As he realized where he had just materialized his arms and legs flailed about as he began to free fall through the sky, ripping through some unsuspecting clouds.

He braved a glance down and realized that he was about to plunge into a large turquoise lagoon.

Sidney hit the turquoise waters with a terrific splash, water erupting around him as he plunged underneath the surface. He was still wearing his gear from the game earlier and the weight of it began to pull him further down into the warm water.

Sidney struggled to get back to the surface but after playing and losing the game earlier and than practicing for hours afterwards and of course the shock of being pulled to wherever he happened to be was taking a toll on his system. He gave one last push upwards and managed to gain a few inches in the right direction when something snagged his ankle and he was pulled back down into the depths of the water.

Suddenly something with purple scales and blonde hair flashed in front of him. Sidney jerked back slightly, that couldn't be what he just saw.  
Sidney struggled against whatever had him, kicking his free skate out. He instantly knew that he caught whoever had him as a cloud of blood swirled up around him.

He gasped and salty water flood into his mouth.

He was going to die, whether or not it was from the drowning or the things that Sidney couldn't quite convince himself were mermaids, Sidney knew he wasn't going to make it. Not that he wasn't going to not give it a fighting chance though. He lashed out with his skates but the creature seemed to have had learned from the first time and avoided his skates.

Dagger like claws raked down the front of his visor and not for the first time Sidney was glad that he was wearing it. Another set of claws caught him along his jaw and more blood clouded the water.

Sidney's vision was beginning to get blurry but that didn't stop him from noticing the shark that was approaching. Well he supposed that that was another way that he could die. All of a sudden Sidney had no fight left, his body felt like it was floating and his vision had almost gone black, when out of nowhere came another pressure pulse. This one was louder then the first and had the immediate effect of Sidney attackers fleeing and even the shark whipped around and headed the other direction.

The surface of the water looked so far away now and Sidney knew he would never make it when out of nowhere someone scooped him up in their arms and the two of them headed for the surface with a flick of a tail.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Zhenya had heard the splash as someone had fallen into the lagoon and had tried to get there as fast as he could but he had been at the far end of the lagoon at the time. As soon as he neared the spot he had smelled blood and he knew that the younglings had gotten there first. He had heard a scream come from one of them and was surprised that whoever had fallen into their world had managed to fight back.

But Zhenya also knew that the sharks had been particularly aggressive this month and the blood was only going to cause their visitor more trouble.  


He had finally arrived on the scene that he had fully expected and had let out a warning call to scare the threats away. This act had worked better then he had hoped and it allowed him a chance to swim over to gather the man and bring him back to the surface.

Zhenya realized that the man was unconscious as he broke the surface of the water and hoped that he wasn't too late. He swam quickly towards the shore and reaching the shallows of the water his fins transformed into legs and he carried the unconscious man onto the beach, laying him down on the white sands.

The man was wearing the oddest clothes that Zhenya had ever seen, including an odd looking hat, it had a chin strap which had come undone and there were deep claw marks down the front of it and Zhenya decided that this man must be fairly lucky.

The merman pulled it off and quickly administered the life giving techniques that his grandfather had taught him after the first few visitors had shown up. He did everything that he was supposed to but nothing seemed to be happening. Rocking back slightly on his heels he stared down at the man laying in the sand. This wouldn't been the first visitor not to make it but it would be the merman's first. He was just leaning in to try once more when the man's body jerked and his eyes flew open.

He began coughing and choking, water spewing from his mouth.

Zhenya helped him to sit up and rubbed his back. Finally the man stopped coughing and flopped back down on his back in the sand.

"Thank you," the man said and looked up at the merman. His eyes got impossibly wide and he gapped at the merman. "Geno?"

"No my name is Zhenya," Zhenya replied, but this too he had heard of, though not for a long time. People coming through and recognizing those on the other side. In fact there was a whole prophesy about this sort of thing.

"Oh," the man seemed to be staring at him but all of a sudden he went very red and turned sharply away. He began to pull his gloves off.

Zhenya was very confused by this man. "What s your name?" he asked touching the man's shoulder.

"Sidney," the man answered, though he kept his eyes firmly turned away from him.

"Is something wrong, Sidney?" Zhenya asked.

"You aren't wearing any clothes," Sidney muttered.

Zhenya glanced down at himself and laughed slightly. Of course he wasn't wearing any clothes, many of his people didn't. It made the transformation easier when they went from land to water and visa versa. Of course it did tend to make others embarrassed around them. Not that Zhenya had anything to be embarrassed about.

"If it's making you uncomfortable I'll go find something to put on," Zhenya replied.

"Thank you," Sidney replied.

Zhenya looked down at him. He obviously came from someplace cold judging from his outfit but here was not a good place for clothing like that.

"Would you like me to see if I can find you something also?" Zhenya asked.

Sidney looked up at him at this and flushed deeper red. "Yes please."

"Don't go anywhere," Zhenya said and he took off running towards the village.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"And where exactly does he think that I am going to go?" Sidney muttered to himself. He would never admit it to anyone but he did watch as Zhenya ran off. He had never told anyone this, didn't even like to think about it, but he had feelings for Geno. Deep, blush inducing feelings.  
Once Zhenya was out of sight he went back to the task of trying to pull his wet equipment off. He finally got his gloves off and started to work on untying his skates.

He had no idea what was going on here. After all it wasn't everyday that one was sucked into a swirling vortex of water in an empty ice arena, fell into a lagoon and was attacked by mermaids and sharks and was saved by a naked teammate. Who seemed to not be his teammate, though he damn well looked like Geno. Come to think of it didn't Ovechkin usually call him Zhenya?

Sidney managed to pull off one of his skates and the water poured out and onto the white sand. His soaking wet sock was next. And then he went to work on the other foot.

He got the skate and other sock off and pulled his jersey over his head and when he did he found Zhenya standing in front of him. Sidney let out a yelp and jerked back.

"I'm sorry," Zhenya smiled at him.

"I just didn't hear you coming," Sidney said, annoyed to find himself blushing again. At least this time Zhenya was dressed, in a pair of what looked like blue and white checked swimming trunks to Sidney. But hey at least they were clothes.

"I brought you these. I hope they fit all right." Zhenya smiled at him again and set a pile of clothing next to Sidney.

"Thank you," Sidney said and he noticed that he was clutching his jersey almost protectively and folded it quickly and then set it beside him.

"Do you need help taking all that off?" Zhenya asked as he watched Sidney struggling to take off the wet equipment.

Sidney just about had a heart attack when Zhenya asked him that. He stared up at the other man like he had grown another head and managed to stammer out. "No.... no, no, no. That s fine. I can do this."

Sidney glanced around and noticed just how in the open they were.

"Actually do you have anywhere more private I could go?" Sidney asked.

"Umm." Zhenya looked along the long stretch of wide open beach. "I guess you could go into the trees..."

"Thanks." Sidney was up on his feet, grabbing the clothes that Zhenya had brought and hurrying away towards the jungle.

"You might want to watch out for the monkeys though," Zhenya called but Sidney gave no indication of hearing him. Zhenya shrugged. There hadn't been a serious issue in years. "I guess that you'll find out the hard way."


	3. Disappearing Monkeys

Sidney was glad for the big leafy plants in the jungle as he stripped out of the rest of his equipment. There was no way that he could have gotten changed in front of Zhenya. He pulled on the shorts that Zhenya had brought him and then reached to the shirt and discover that it wasn't there. He looked around, turning in a complete circle but there was no sign of a shirt.

  
Glancing out on to the beach, Sidney didn't see anything out there either. Just his abandoned jersey and skates and Zhenya staring out at the ocean.

  
Sidney shrugged. He supposed that he didn't really need a shirt but he was sure that there had been one with the pile of clothes Zhenya had brought and Sidney wondered where it had went.

  
Zhenya had also brought him a pair of sandals and Sidney reached for them. But came up with only one.

  
"Okay what's going on here?" Sidney demanded to no one.

  
The jungle was quiet though. Sidney looked around again when all of a sudden there was a tugging on the sandal that he still held. Sidney's head whipped towards the sandal and found a tiny pair of ice blue hands clutching it.

  
If there had been anything attached to those hands Sidney probably wouldn't have reacted the way he did. But there wasn't and with a yelp Sidney stumbled back and tripped over a root. He landed hard on his back, which knocked the wind out of him. He didn't let go of the sandal however. But neither did whatever was holding it and it landed heavily on Sidney's chest.

  
Sidney coughed, trying to breath again and the thing on him slowly materialized. It's face was the same blue as its hands, with big black eyes. The rest of it's head was covered in rusty orange fur that darkened into a burgundy shade along the rest it's body. Tuffs of almost neon purple sprouted from its ears at close to six inches and the purple carried down to the creatures ringed tail.

  
The creature cocked it's head at Sidney and a sly grin appeared on it's face and it tugged on the sandal again.

  
"No," Sidney protested not loosing his hold on the sandal. "In fact I think you should give me back the other one you stole."

  
The creature chattered right back at him and pulled hard at the sandal.

  
Sidney attempted to shake the creature loose from the sandal but that only resulted in the creatures back feet gripping Sidney's wrist and it's tail winding down his forearm.

  
"This is mine. Go find someone else's stuff to steal," Sidney couldn t believe that he was arguing with what kind of resembled a monkey. And that the thing seemed to be arguing with him. Sidney shook his arm a bit more vigorously and the damn thing sank it's teeth into the soft flesh between his thumb and forefinger.

  
Sidney yelled out in pain and let go of the sandal. Which seemed to be what the monkey wanted. It let go of his wrist and was back into the trees as Sidney writhed in pain.

  
Zhenya must have heard his yell because moments later he came crashing through the trees. He found Sidney and fell down onto his knees, "Are you all right?" he asked laying a hand on Sidney bare back.

  
"Yeah, that damn thing bit me though," Sidney growled.

  
"What bit you? Was it one of the monkeys? Zhenya seemed to be awfully worried about this.

  
"Oh, is that what you call them?" Sidney muttered.

  
"Was it one of the monkeys?" Zhenya had Sidney by the shoulders now and he shook him slightly.

  
"Yeah," Sidney didn't get what the big deal was.

  
"Damn it," Zhenya muttered. Then he was up on his feet, yanking Sidney roughly to his. "We have to get to the village."

  
"Zhenya, what is going on?" Sidney demanded as he was yanked through the jungle. It was all that Sidney could do to keep on his feet. They reached the beach and Zhenya began to haul him towards what Sidney assumed was his village.

  
"Zhenya!" Sidney was officially fed up and ripped his arm out of Zhenya s grip. Which meant that he ended back on the ground but he scrambled back to his feet and hurried away from Zhenya as he tried to grab him again. "No! I'm not going anywhere with you until you tell me what is going on!"

  
"Sidney," Zhenya sound just as frustrated as he did. "Those things are highly poisonous. If we don't get you help immediately you are going to die!"

  
"What? I feel fine though," Sidney protested.  
"For now. But if we wait any longer you won't." Zhenya said.

  
"Fine," Sidney through up his hands. "Just let me grab something," he turned and ran over to where he had left his jersey. He grabbed it and hurried back over to Zhenya, who looked less then pleased. Of course this was the man that Sidney had had to convince to put on clothes so he didn t even bother trying to explain his reasoning.

  
He had almost reached Zhenya when crippling pain ripped through his body and his knees gave out, sending him crashing into the sand.

  
"Sidney!" Zhenya hurried to him. He was unconscious when Zhenya reached him though.

  
Zhenya turned him over and scooped him up for the second time that day. The shirt that Sidney had went back for slipped from his fingers onto the sand. Zhenya took a step forward and then with a growl turned back grabbed it, laying it on Sidney chest. He took off at a sprint towards the village, failing to notice the tiny monkey that was clinging to the side of Sidney's shorts.


	4. The village of Canoonie

 Sidney awoke lying on a bed made out of vines and seaweed. It was almost like a hammock and was surprisingly comfortable. Sidney could have almost fallen back asleep when something started to nag at him. Hadn't something dire happened?

Everything came rushing back to him and he tried to sit up abruptly.

But a hand stopped him and pushed him back down.

He glanced over and found Zhenya at his side. Apparently the monkey bite hadn't killed him. But it had affected him, his body was tired and achy and he really needed something to drink.

"How are you feeling?" Zhenya leaned closer to him and Sidney couldn't help but think that was just how Geno would have reacted.

"Thirsty," Sidney croaked.

"Of course you are," Zhenya turned and grabbed a glass of water that was sitting next to the bed.

Sidney reached for the glass but Zhenya held back. "This isn't water. It's something that's going to help you heal. But I'm going to warn you that it's very sweet and you need to drink it slowly."

Sidney nodded at him. Following medical advise, even if it was from a merman, was something that Sidney knew how to do. Zhenya still looked reluctant but helped Sidney into a sitting position and handed him the glass.

Sidney took a small sip and just about gagged. Sweet was not a accurate description of this stuff. It was like drinking syrup that someone had decided wasn't sweet enough and had added another cup of sugar to it. He managed to swallow the sip and then handed the cup back to Zhenya.

"Can I have some water?" Sidney asked.

"No," Zhenya said shortly.

Sidney wondered about the change in his attitude. He had seemed so friendly when Sidney had first met him but now something was different.

"Umm okay. So the monkey bite didn't kill me. You got me back here in time?"

"The monkey bite was never a threat to you." Zhenya said. "It's my fault that you collapsed. I'm sorry."

"What?" Sidney was confused.

"I thought your armour had protected you," Zhenya said. His fingers trailed lightly across Sidney's jaw just above the bandaged cut. Sidney's skin began to tingle and he pulled away from the touch. "I didn't see the cut on your jaw. I'm sorry."

"Armour?" Sidney was confused but then it occurred to him that he meant his uniform. "So I collapsed because of the mermaids not the monkeys?"

"Yes," Zhenya answered.

"And now what is going to happen?" Sidney asked.

"Nothing. Because I'm not going to let it happen." Zhenya said.

Sidney wanted to ask more but from the tightness in Zhenya's jaw he decided to drop the subject for now. "So since I can't have any water is there anything else that I can have?"

"I'll go see what I can find," Zhenya said heading out the door.

Sidney swung his legs off of the bed. The hut was tiny but cozy. There was the bed and chair both looking handmade and a side table by a small window. Sidney walked over to the window and peered outside. The sun was sinking lower and would set before long. The blue expanse of the ocean stretched as far as Sidney could see and the white sand gleamed in the late day sun. Palm trees swayed peacefully in the gentle breeze that was keeping the day from being unbearable. Leaning forward slightly to see if he could see anyone else, his hand rested on something fabric.

Looking down, he smiled slightly as he realized that it was his jersey. Maybe Zhenya understood more then he thought.

He was beginning to feel achy again and turned to go back to the bed and stopped in shock.

There, sitting in the middle of the bed, was a teeny tiny monkey.

Sidney was sure that it would fit in the palm of his hand with no problem. It looked the same as the monkeys earlier, blue skin and rust and burgundy fur and it was staring at him with impossibly huge eyes.

"Hi," Sidney said cautiously. The other one may not have poisoned him but it still bit him. Just thinking about it made Sidney's wound ache and he looked down at it. It had been bandaged just like the cut on his neck.

He looked up again and the monkey was gone. Sidney took a step forward when the door opened and in came Zhenya with a impressive tray of cut fruit.

"Sidney, you should be resting." Sidney nodded and let Zhenya help him back over to the bed, keeping his eyes peeled for the monkey. But it seemed to have disappeared and Sidney wondered if he had imagined it. He managed to eat a few of the pieces of fruit and drink some more of the sickly sweet concoction before his eyes grew impossibly heavy and he was back asleep.

Zhenya smiled sadly and settled back onto the chair to watch over Sidney.

                                                                                    * * * * *

Sidney had been sleeping for a good hour when Zhenya slipped from the hut.

Zhenya crossed quickly through the quiet village, most would still be in the ocean because after the sun dropped all would head back to land and safety.

It didn't take Zhenya long before he found himself front of the King's temple. It was larger than any other of the buildings in town and was decorated with all manor of items from the sea. Sitting on the magnificent throne that had been carved from coral was the King of The Merpeople, King Canoonie. He was ancient, some said tens of thousands of years old. Zhenya wasn't sure if he believed that but the King was old enough that his skin was slowly beginning to turn to the colour of his magnificent green scales. His hair was silver and streaked with blue and fell past his shoulders. He had a full beard, the same shades as his hair and his eyes were the piercing turquoise of the ocean at mid day.

When he saw Zhenya approaching he smiled widely and stood up, pulling Zhenya into a hug. "How is our guest doing, Zhenya?" King Canoonie boomed.

"Tired. He's sleeping right now," Zhenya answered.

"Well some rest will do him good, you two have a long journey to begin tomorrow," the King said.

"Yes Your Majesty,"

"We must talk about this journey," King Canoonie slung an arm around Zhenya's shoulders. "Let us walk."

                                                                                  * * * * *

Sidney awoke feeling much more like himself.

He supposed that Zhenya's medicine was helping.

Looking around he was slightly disappointed to find that he was alone.

But he supposed that Zhenya would have stuff to do.

He sat up and picked up the glass, taking another drink. Giving his head a shake at the taste he went to put it back and just about dropped the glass as he found the monkey sitting on the nightstand.

"Where did you come from?" Sidney asked.

The little creature just cocked his head at him. "I'm just going to put this down," Sidney said, setting the glass down beside the monkey. The monkey looked at the glass for a minute and then hopped up onto the rim and licked at the clear liquid in it. The monkey apparently didn't like it any more then Sidney did as it jumped off the glass, shaking its head.

Sidney laughed and the door of his hut opened.

Sidney turned to find that it was Zhenya coming back.

"Feeling better?" Zhenya asked.

"Yeah, I guess whatever's in there is helping." Sidney gestured at the glass and turned to look at it. Only to find that the monkey had disappeared once more. Sidney stared at the spot in confusion. Where did it go?

"Sidney?" Zhenya sounded concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Sidney said shaking his head.

"Would you like to come meet the King?" Zhenya asked.

"Okay," Sidney answered, up on his feet he got. The sun had set and Sidney realized just how cool the room had gotten. "Just a second," he told Zhenya and since he had no other option he grabbed his jersey and pulled it over his head.

Zhenya looked at him curiously. "Does it have meaning?" he asked as they walked outside.

"Yes, but it's hard to explain," Sidney said.

"We have birds like that here," Zhenya gestured at the penguin on the front of the jersey. "Far up north. I've never seen one though."

"So where are we? What's the name of your village?"

"It's known as the Village of Canoonie. That is also the King's name. I suppose that it had a different name before the King but that was so long ago that no one remembers now," Zhenya told him.

"How long has he been King?" Sidney asked.

"No one remembers that either," Zhenya shrugged. "You see my people are very long lived. I am three thousand years old this year."

"You're what?" Sidney stared at him.

Zhenya grinned at him and Sidney guessed that Zhenya had been expecting that reaction.

"So where is everyone else?" Sidney asked they had been walking through the village for a couple minutes and had only seen a couple of people now.

Zhenya frowned slightly. "They will be inside. We are at war, Sidney. And our opponents only come out at night."

"What are they vampires?" Sidney joked.

But Zhenya stared at him in shock. "How did you know that? Have you heard of the war?"

"Vampires are real?" Sidney had just got used to the idea of mermaids and disappearing monkeys.

"Your world must be a very boring place," Zhenya decided.

Before Sidney had a chance to answer there was an odd whistling sound and the hut to their left exploded into flames.

"Damn it!" Zhenya shouted."They've got the fire elementals on their side. We need to get out of the open!" Zhenya grabbed Sidney by the back of his jersey and pushed him along ahead of him. He gestured his hand back towards the hut and water gushed over the fire dousing it immediately.

But it seemed to be a losing battle to put out the fires as soon as Zhenya doused one another three were set.

An explosion exploded not feet from where the two were running and Sidney, the closest to it, flinched sideways, running into Zhenya and knocking both of them onto the street.

Zhenya didn't stay down for long and was hauling Sidney along with him.

Sidney tried to keep up but he stumbled and fell to the ground again.

Zhenya all of a sudden threw himself over top of Sidney, flattening him to the ground as another fire bomb flew directly over them. Zhenya was a little slower to get up this time but he pulled Sidney up and close to him as they continued to run.

"Get to the water!" Sidney heard a loud powerful voice shout over the noise that was going on.

But to Sidney's surprised instead of steering them towards the water Zhenya headed for the voice. Sidney glanced up and through the smoke and flames could see a man with a great white beard standing on a throne, yelling directions. A storm was beginning to gather directly over his head.

Sidney and Zhenya had almost reached the throne when one of the fire bombs exploded on the base of it. The explosion sent Sidney and Zhenya back to the ground as Sidney glanced up he didn t see the man who was obviously the King any longer.

Zhenya was back on his feet and staggering away from Sidney. Another explosion kept Sidney on the ground but he couldn't mistake the cry of dismay that came moments later.

Sidney stumbled to his feet to go find Zhenya but didn't get far as a shimmering bronze rope came from the darkness and the loop dropped over his head pinning his arms tightly to his sides. A sharp jerk from whoever was holding it sent Sidney sprawling to the ground.

"Zhenya!" Sidney managed to get out before a cold hand slapped across his mouth, preventing him from making anymore sounds.

There was more then one of them and they tied Sidney's hands roughly behind his back. The hand was pulled back and a gag roughly shoved into his mouth before he could make a sound. One of his captors loosened the rope around his torso but as soon as it was over his head a heavy collar was placed around his throat. A heavy chain was attached to the collar and Sidney was yanked down to his knees at his captors feet.

Any move that Sidney made resulted in a jerk of the chain and Sidney could only watch the carnage of the village happen.

Through the smoke and flames he watched as the Merpeople attempted to escape to the ocean. Some making it but many not and he wondered what happened to Zhenya. It wasn't long before the village became quiet, except for a few cries of pain and the sound of the village burning could be heard.

Sidney shifted on his knees which were beginning to ache, which caused his captor to yank on the chain, when Sidney saw someone approaching them.

"My Lord, it is done. The King is dead," the man that approached them hissed.

Sidney gasped at that and his captor chuckled. "The survivors?"

"Some escaped to the water but most have been rounded up and we are ready to head back." The man ducked his head into a bow. "Would you like me to take that one?"

"No, I've been looking for a new pet," Sidney's captor said, his voice sounding very familiar but Sidney couldn't place it.

"Yes my Lord." The man nodded and then skittered away to join the others.

"Come," his captor ordered seconds before he began striding towards the gathering.

Sidney scrambled to get to his feet because he didn't doubt that the man wouldn't hesitate to drag him along if he didn't. Once he was vertical it wasn't hard to keep up with his captor and they reached the gathering of about thirty of the Merpeople and half as many vampires. Sidney searched the terrified face to see if he could spot Zhenya.

When he didn't see Zhenya, Sidney hoped that he had been one of the ones that had escaped to the water, not one of the bodies that Sidney had seen strewn on the ground.

A huge black stallion with blazing red eyes was led over to the vampire who was obviously in charge.

Grabbing Sidney by his waist the vampire hoisted Sidney onto the back of the stallion like he weighed nothing and then swung himself up behind Sidney. The length of the vampire Lord's body was pressed hard against Sidney's and Sidney squirmed trying to put some space in between them.

A sharp yank of the chain changed his mind and the vampire Lord leaned closer, murmuring, "I think that I am going to enjoy having you." He spurred the horse into action and it lunged forward into the night.


	5. The Vampire's Lair

Zhenya huddled at the middle of the pack of captive Merpeople that were now to be at the vampires mercy. He had had the chance to escape to the water but hadn't wanted to leave without Sidney. Which was when he had found that Sidney had been taken captive. He had hoped that he would have been put with the rest of the Merpeople but no such luck.

Zhenya was feeling quiet useless at the moment. He had watch his beloved King died right in front of him. Not being able to do anything to save the man. And then he hadn't even been able to keep Sidney safe and he had lost him to boot. He still couldn't believe that the King was gone.

  
But he was determined to keep his head down and find a way out of this mess for his people.

  
And he had a funny feeling that it was going to be Sidney that helped him. He had read all the prophecies so many times that they were etched into his mind. He and the King had talked about it also and had come up with a plan to find out if it was true. Of course that plan was shot to hell now.

  
There was a commotion at that front of the ground and Zhenya dared to peered above his hunched down fellow captives.

  
"Damn," Zhenya breathed as he watch a vampire hoist Sidney; a bound and gagged Sidney, onto the back of a hell horse. Which meant that the vampire who mounted the horse behind Sidney was one of the infamous Vampire Lords.

Zhenya needed to come up with a plan and fast because otherwise Sidney wasn't going to be alive long enough for Zhenya to find out if the prophecy was true.

  
The vampires were ready to move on and the Merpeople were herded along the path that headed to the fearsome Bat Mountain not far in the to the North. Where the Merpeople would most likely become slaves in the mines far below Bat Mountain until they died.

  
Or Zhenya saved them.

                                                                             * * * * *

Sidney wished that he could put some distance between him and his captor but at the speed that they were travelling Sidney wasn't completely sure that he wouldn't fall off the horse and was forced to lean back against his captor. Who seemed to be enjoying himself way too much.

  
He was holding the reins in one hand and his other arm wrapped around Sidney's stomach. Sidney refused to think about where his bound hands were resting though even that was proving to be difficult. It didn't help that the man had leaned forward and had been whispering the dirtiest things that Sidney had ever heard in his ear. Sidney had to wonder if falling of off the horse would really be worse than this.

  
Sidney heard an odd noise and felt pointed teeth graze his neck. He was sure that this was going to be the end of him when there was a sudden commotion behind them. The vampire growled lowly in Sidney's ear and began to pull up his steed when a high pitched pained scream came from behind them.

  
The vampire whirled his horse around and charged back to where the rest had come to a stop. He pulled the horse up just before trampling one of the vampires that didn't get out of the way fast enough. He was off the horse and yanking Sidney to the ground in the blink of an eye and was striding forward to where a circle had formed. Sidney was drug a few feet before he managed to regain his footing.

  
The vampires parted to let their Lord through. And Sidney was disgusted by what he saw in the middle of the circle. The ground was saturated with blood and gore and it looked like someone had exploded. Which Sidney then realized that someone had.

  
"Who did this?!" the vampire boomed.

  
Two of the vampire drug forward a struggling merman.

  
Sidney's breath caught as he first thought that it was Zhenya but he soon realized that he was wrong.

  
"How did he do this?" the Vampire demanded.

  
"My Lord, he got his hands on a stake somehow," one of the obviously lesser Vampires cowered in front of the Vampire Lord.

  
"Obviously because someone wasn't careful enough!" the Vampire Lord thundered.

  
"Sire, I'm sorry," the vampire looked terrified.

  
"You will be dealt with later," the Vampire Lord promised. And then he turned to the merman that was still being held. "You on the other hand are going to learn what the punishment is for taking one of our lives and the rest of you had better pay close attention."

  
Sidney stared at the vampire before him. His voice once again sounded unusually familiar but Sidney still hadn't been able to get a good look at his face and still couldn't place him.

  
"Do it," the vampires voice had dropped to a frighteningly calm tone and he took a step back out of the circle. The two vampires holding the mermaid didn't hesitate and ripped into the merman's throat. The merman screamed, along with some of the others but those screams quickly died down into a weak gurgle. Sidney couldn't watch this and tried to look anywhere else. Which was when he met someone's gaze in crowd and realized that it was Zhenya. Zhenya nodded at him and then disappeared into the crowd.

  
Sidney felt a trace of hope alight inside of him. Maybe, just maybe they would get out of this alive.

                                                                                       * * * * *

Lord Claude was not in a good mood anymore. How stupid did one have to be to let a captive have something that could kill you? Now he was going to have to summon the King and admit all of this. And that really wasn't something that he wanted to do.

  
The stupidity was making Lord Claude be in a very bad mood as he strode down the torch lit hallway towards his opulent suite dragging his new pet along with him. The double doors to his suite slammed open with a wave of his hand and he stormed inside.

  
Grabbing his captive by the back of his shirt he shoved him still bound and gagged towards a corner of the room. Pacing back and for angrily for a few turns he began to calm down a little. Once he did he remembered what had happened to his last pet and if he wanted to keep this one for a little longer, so he supposed that he should keep this one in a little better health then the last.

  
He whirled towards where the captive was huddled into the corner of the room. The man's eyes grew impossibly large as he stared at him and Lord Claude relished the fear for a moment, before striding towards his new pet.

  
The man cowered as Lord Claude approached and picked up the chain again. He was marginally more gentle then before as he pulled him towards the large bed that dominated the room. It was a four poster bed made from the sacred tree of some creature that they had exterminated and was draped with the most luxurious blood red silk curtains and bedding.

  
Lord Claude didn't spend a lot of time in this room, his coffin being hid away in a place that his lesser vampires didn't even know about. Because frankly he didn't trust them. But the time that he did spend here he wanted to be comfortable in. There was a chain on the wall next to the bed and long enough to stretch anywhere except the door that the person on the end of it wanted to go. Lord Claude swapped the short lead for the longer on. The man was still cowering from him as Lord Claude roughly turned him around and pulled the gag free from his mouth and then unbound his hands.

  
"Giroux?" Were the first words to come out of the man's mouth, which surprised Lord Claude. He had been expecting more of something like "Please don t hurt me" or "Let me go". Of course he had no idea what the man had said. With the way his luck was going the man probably didn t even speak his language.

  
The fact that he didn't respond to the man seemed to agitate him. "You certainly look like Giroux." the man scowled at him.  
Well apparently he did speak his language.

  
"I am Lord Claude and your new master and you are not going to speak to me like that. Because honestly I don't need you to talk and will tear out your tongue if you continue." Lord Claude yanked the man forward by his chain.

  
The man swallowed deeply but then nodded, his eyes downcast.

  
But seeing as Claude was already in a bad mood, that wasn't good enough for him. "You will also address me as Sir or Master and you will answer me when I talk to you."

  
The man gave Lord Claude a look, that if he was to possess any real powers, Lord Claude had no doubt he would be a puddle on the floor. But he complied none the less, "Yes Sir, but you just told me not to talk."

  
Lord Claude had had enough. And his hand whipped across the Sidney's face.

  
Startled, the man fell to the floor, staring up a him his eyes not full of fear as Lord Claude would have expected but rather a deep burning hatred.

  
"What is your name?" Lord Claude demanded, glaring down at him.

  
"Sidney, Sir," Sidney was quick to answer, though his tone was one that Lord Claude could have done without.

  
It looked like Lord Claude was going to have to beat some manners into this Sidney. He grabbed the chain and hauled Sidney back up to his feet. Sidney stared back defiantly at him and Lord Claude changed his tactic. Perhaps humiliation would be more effective.

  
Lord Claude unlocked the chan around Sidney's throat, letting it fall to the ground.

  
Sidney looked unsure at this action.

  
"Strip." Lord Claude demanded.

  
Sidney's eyes widened. "What?"

  
"You heard me and if I have to tell you again..." Lord Claude threatened.

  
But of course Sidney was not going to be that easily convinced. "No."

  
Moving quickly, Lord Claude grabbed Sidney by his throat, his long nails digging into the tender flesh, and slammed him against the wall.

  
Silence reigned in the room as slave and master glowered at each other.

  
Lord Claude kept his eyes focused on Sidney, he had another power that he was apparently going to have to use with this one. Sidney swallowed deeply. Lord Claude finally pulled his hand away and Sidney sagged a bit in relief. But he didn't seem to be under Lord Claude's spell, which made Lord Claude frown in annoyance. He took a step forward, pressing their bodies together. "Where are you from?"

  
Sidney squirmed, discomforted by the closeness. Lord Claude hooked his fingers under Sidney's chin forcing him to look up.  
"From far away,"

  
"I could gather that," Lord Claude growled. "You're not affected by my magic. At least not my usual tactics." He suddenly surged forward, the vampires lips pressing against Sidney's. He pressed Sidney harder against he wall and slid his leg in between Sidney's.

  
Sidney struggled and wretched his face away, panting. Lord Claude hand had been wandering and Sidney gasped and tried to push the vampire off of him. But this just seemed to encourage Lord Claude.

  
A tiny moan escaped Sidney's mouth.

  
Lord Claude captured Sidney's lips again. A tremor ran its way along Sidney's side and Lord Claude pulled away. Sidney groaned at the loss of contact.

  
"Now how about you strip?"

  
Sidney felt lost in a daze and reached down to the hem of his jersey to pull it off when a pounding came at the chambers door.

  
Lord Claude growled in annoyance. Now what was wrong?

  
He pondered ignoring the pound but it didn't stop.

  
"Stay." He instructed Sidney before storming over to the door. "What?"

  
Lord Claude stopped short as he realized it was one of his counterpart Lords. There were twelve Vampire Lords spread across the country. With four strongholds at each corner of the country there were three Vampire Lords at each of the strongholds. Bat Mountain was the southern most of the strongholds and Lord Claude ruled the area along with Lord Milan and Lord Raffi.  
At the moment Lord Milan stood at his door looking unamused. "The King is here. He wants an audience."

  
"Now?" Lord Claude growled, stepping back into the room. "How did he find out so fast?"

  
"Find out what?" Lord Milan asked, following him inside, yanking the man at the end of the chain he held with him.

  
"What with this?" Lord Claude asked of the man that Lord Milan was hauling along with him. Lord Claude thought that he vaguely recognized from a raid earlier this month.

  
Lord Claude snapped his fingers at Sidney breaking the spell he had had on him.

  
Sidney stumbled slightly as his head abruptly cleared. He backed up in shock hitting the wall behind as he realized that there was others in the room.

  
"I found some of the parasites in my chambers yesterday. Not sure how they got in but they won't be doing it again." Lord Milan was referring to the lesser vampires that constantly hung around the Lords. They often got leftovers from the vampire Lords. Most of the lesser were recent turns, captive from wars and such. "Not quite done with this one yet. Didn't want to let them have him."

  
Lord Milan dropped the chain, shoving his captive hard towards the massive bed. He was known for being a particularly brutal vampire and his pets didn't tend to last all that long. And the man that Lord Milan had just shoved was beginning to show the wear from his brutal treatment. He curled up at the foot of the bed, trying to make himself less noticable.

  
"None of them dare come in here. You can leave him here until we're done." Lord Claude offered.

  
"Thanks." Milan attached the chain to a hook on one of the bed posts.

  
"Come here!" Lord Claude snapped at Sidney.

  
Sidney snarled at him but he did obey.

  
Lord Claude counted it as a small victory.

  
He snapped the collar back around Sidney throat and the two Lords swept from the room.


	6. Escape

Sidney wasn't sure what had just happened. He remembered the vampire that wasn't Giroux ordering him to strip but his memory got fuzzy after that. He was more than a little concerned how easily that the vampire had taken control of him and knew that he had to get out of this place. And of course he had to find Zhenya.

The heavy chain was once again around his throat and Sidney turned looking for something that he might be able to pick his lock with.

He was startled when he discovered that he wasn't alone.

The other man was curled in on himself at the end of overly gaudy bed. He was in rough shape. Really all that Sidney could see were the tops of his bare shoulders and along his back. There was long red scratches, in various states of healing, trailing down his back and several nasty looking bruises blooming along his pale skin. His head was bowed low and Sidney wondered if he was all right.

Sidney hesitated but the stepped closer and reached down, touching the man's shoulder gently.

The man started violently, head whipping up, dark eyes staring at Sidney in fear.

He looked vaguely familiar but really that shouldn't surprise Sidney anymore.

His face looked worse than his back did. Both eyes were circled in deep dark bruises, making Sidney wonder if his nose had been broken. The was a nasty looking gash on his left cheekbone and a nasty looking wound on his bottom lip that look very recent. But what caught Sidney's attention the most were the puncture wounds that were very evident on his throat and arms.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Are you alright?" Sidney asked.

The man licked his parched lips, he tried to speak but nothing came put.

Sidney saw a pitcher sitting across the room on the sideboard. He just hoped that it was water in it. He headed over and did indeed find water and a glass. Pouring it into a glass he brought it back handing it to the man who was now sitting on the bed.

The man's hands were shaking as he took the glass. He took a couple of sips and then croaked out, "Crosby?"

"Wait? You know me? Me?" Sidney was shocked. "Are you from my world?"

The man nodded, taking another drink.

"I'm sorry I don't know you," Sidney admitted.

"Burrows. Alex Burrows. I play for the Canucks," Burrows' voice still had a raw edge to it.

"Of course. How did you get here?" Sidney asked, joining Alex on the bed.

A shudder ran though Burrows. He was silent for a long moment before beginning to talk. "I got into a fight with one of my teammates and I went for a run along the seawall. It was late and there was a storm gathering. I thought that I could get back before it hit but I didn't. I was in Stanley Park when it rolled in. But it wasn't a normal storm."

"What do you mean? Not normal?" Sidney asked.

"It got really, really dark but the the clouds had a green tinge to them. I decided to take cover in the forest." A shudder trembled through Burrows. "It got worse really fast and suddenly... Suddenly there was bats everywhere. Everywhere...Sidney. At first they just flew everywhere. But then...then they started to circle me. Faster and faster and then...then a sinkhole opened up underneath me. I tried to get away but I couldn't and I fell into it. I fell for what felt like forever...Until I landed in the middle of a field. It was very weird but Sidney everything was in black and white."

Sidney wasn't sure what to say. He didn't not believe what Alex was saying was true. With all the weird stuff that had happened lately who wouldn't. Burrows seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. Sidney decided to tell Alex his own story. "I was at the rink. All by myself. The ice just started to crack and then... a water spout burst through the ice and sucked me into the sky of this world. I fell into the lagoon and was attacked by sharks and mermaid and just about drowned." Sidney told him. "And then I was saved by a merman who looks just like Evgeni Malkin."

Burrows eyes were wide. "After I fell into the black and white field, I wasn't hurt and I could see a village in the distance and decided that I should go there and find out where I was. Things did not go well there. No one would talk to me, in fact people seemed afraid of me. And then the vampires struck. I was taken captive and have been in this mountain ever since."

"We need to get out of here. Any ideas?" Sidney asked.

Alex looked over at him, his eyes said. "It's not going to happen. We're not getting out of here. Not alive at least."

"There's got to be some way," Sidney protested.

Alex tugged at the chain around his throat. "I've tried to escape. But they have the keys and I don't know how we would ever get them."

"Because they can put us under a trance as soon as we tried." He looked up at the hook that was at the end of the bed. "What if we can loosen the hook?"

"And then what, Crosby?" Alex asked. "I can't fight anyone."

"We can't just give up." Sidney said, his temper beginning to flare.

"And what are we supposed to do!" Alex yelled at him.

Sidney didn't know what to say but then a familiar chattering came from behind them.

Both turned towards the sound.

"What is that?" Alex asked as a tiny purple monkey appeared holding a brass key.

"A friend," Sidney replied. "Just don't let it bite you,"

"I don't have a problem with that," Alex said, seeming nervous about the creature.

The monkey jumped over to Sidney's shoulder, holding out the key. Sidney took it, and unlocked the collar around his neck. 

Alex stared at him in shock.

"Here, let me," Sidney said but Alex jerked away from him.

"What if it's a trap?" Alex looked so suspicious.

"I don't think that it is," Sidney said. "Let me free you so we can get out of here."

Alex didn't look convinced but let Sidney approach him.

*********************

Alex knew that something was wrong with him. He just wasn't sure what it was.

Ever since he had been drug in here by Lord Milan, the sounds of Sidney' heart beating, his blood pumping through out his veins, had been driving Alex crazy.

Sidney reached out, unlocking the collar around his throat. His finger grazed against his bare skin as he did. "You'e freezing, Alex." The chain dropped off of his neck.

Sidney headed towards the wardrobe that was against the wall. He pulled a couple of dark cloaks from the wardrobe, tossing one over to Alex.

Alex caught it easily but didn't look convinced.

"Sidney..."

"Do you really want to stay here? And let them continue to torture you. Or do you want to go home?" Sidney demanded.

Really there wasn't much choice, Alex decided as he swung the cloak around himself and pulled the hood over his head. "Let's go," Alex decided.

********************

Sidney was shocked to find that door just opened. The hallway was empty outside the room. "Any idea which way?" He asked Alex.

Alex looked both ways, "I think that that way leads deeper into the mountain."

"Then that's the way that we go," Sidney nodded, starting off that way.

"Wait! What? I thought that we were supposed to be escaping?" Alex demanded.

"We have to find someone first," Sidney answered not stopping.

Alex huffed out a sigh of annoyance and considered heading the other way but he knew he couldn't escape this place himself so he followed Sidney.

There was no one in the hallways, which kind of surprised Sidney but he wasn't going to complain. There was so many twists and turns that Sidney wasn't sure if they were going to be able to find their way back, but they needed to find Geno.

He rounded another corner and came to a dead stop as he came face to face with a crossbow.


End file.
